Lizzy Plapinger is wearing a backwards marijuana-leaf baseball cap over her orange-violet-crimson hair, an acid yellow crop top, transparent trainers, black trousers and some sort of oversized, blue chinoiserie jacket. "Yeah, I left the house and was like, I look like a cross between New Kids on the Block, Spike Lee and Molly Ringwald."

Plapinger is Ms, the singing half of the duo, and beside her is Mr Max Hershenow, the band's producer. She looks like they sound: loud, very bold and colourful. Hurricane is their calling card – a churning, melodramatic beast of a track, first released to a video of supercut images that constitute an attention-deficit Tumblr-whirlwind of pop culture to out-Video Game Lana Del Rey. "The music is so much a collage of all our favourite bands and genres and time period," she says. "We're internet kids and we're of this generation, and the collage aesthetic works across all the media we're working in."

As now seems requisite of every new buzz band, they kept their identity secret for a long time. "We spent so long on the project in private before we had a concrete idea of who we were and what we wanted to do," Hershenow explains. "Neither of us were versed enough in navigating the media landscape to control our image enough [when they first began]. It would have got taken away from us and made into something else. We continue to maintain that power – we control it and have this incredible opportunity to create our world."

They know each other from Vassar College in upstate New York ("classic liberal arts fare," smiles Plapinger) where Plapinger co-founded the record label, Neon Gold, in her second year. After graduating, Hershenow became interested in producing and emailed Plapinger to ask if she had any new artists he could work with. "She sent me a list," he says, "but slipped herself into the bottom."

When they met up to work together they wrote their first song, Bones, in less than two hours. "Nothing was premeditated," says Hershenow. "We never even said we were going to be a band! We did what felt right, and, incredibly, we were on the same page about everything."

Usher came to see one of their shows at SXSW last March and asked for a picture of them ("I wanted to be like ugh, Usher please, play it cool," says Plapinger), and Jay-Z's website, Life and Times, posted a track of theirs last August. To their astonishment, Tom Elmhirst, who has worked with Adele and Amy Winehouse, agreed to mix their record. "Can I dream big at this point?" says Plapinger. "I feel like I can – there are a few guys and girls I'd love to do a duet with." She looks to Hershenow, asks, "Just go for it?", and he nods. "Well it sort of runs the gamut – Jai Paul, Sufjan Stevens…" She pauses for effect. "…Justin Timberlake. I'm still a pop girl at heart. I've always known, soon he will too: Justin, I'm coming for you."